Kirsty Coventry
As head of the IOC, two-time Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe replaced German representative Thomas Bach, who had led the organization since 2013.
Kirsty Coventry became the 10th president of the IOC since the founding of the organization and the first woman to head the Olympic Committee.
The outgoing Thomas Bach was quite emotional in his farewell speech, “I gave the Olympic movement my best, I was committed to our mission and values.” This may have been a reaction to Thomas Bach’s accusations that the Olympic movement had become highly politicized and therefore divided under his watch.
At the same time, the German representative expressed his hope that the flag of the Olympic movement will be placed in safe hands: “I am sure that starting tomorrow the Olympic movement with Kirsty Coventry will be in the safest of hands,” Thomas Bach said at the handover ceremony.
